The Chronicles of Pandora
by Kyuubi no Kaiju
Summary: Different tales and stories of different Na'vi and humans on the jungle-moon Pandora. Post-Avatar.
1. Chapter 1

_**Note: Remember, this is post-Avatar. If you haven't seen the film, I suggest you do before reading this, for occasionally, a reference to the film will most likely be there. Read at your own risk!**_

**PART I: VICIOUS PURITY**

Chapter I: Palulukan's Claws

She couldn't see it, nor smell it, but Ay'cura knew she was being watched. And not by a fellow Na'vi hunter. By something much more primitive, much less intelligent, and yet much, much stealthier than a Na'vi. She looked at the hunting leader for instructions, along with her other comrades.

"Do nothing," said No'nah, the hunting leader. "Just keep your spear up."

Ay'cura nodded stiffly. And then the attack began.

It was a palulukan that had leapt from behind a large boulder just meters from them, its huge, feline body bounding towards the Na'vi. Ay'cura yelled a warning, mostly out of fear, for it was a palulukan that scared Na'vi the most when it came to the other inhabitants. Her warning was too late; the palulukan had just ran through a fellow Na'vi (Eh'Rei), clamping its jaws around his torso fiercely as if he were a child's toy. Ay'cura cried in terror as the palulukan crushed another partner with its paws. She had not noticed that other hunters were now bounding upon the predator, trying to stab it through its thick, armor-like hide with their spears. One punctured it through the back, making it recoil by bounding like a wild direhorse. Several Na'vi flew off like the toys of Na'vi children; the palulukan managed to snag one airborne Na'vi in its jaws then proceed to shake the body apart wildly.

Ay'cura leapt forward at last with her fellows, but was knocked away by the creature's mace-like tail. She felt her ribs snap as she was thrown aside carelessly. Unconsciousness strangled her mind, but she could hear a voice crying her name, just before blackness swept over her.

* * *

It was common for something to gaze upon this structure (it was hard to tell if it was natural or made by intelligent creatures). The jungle made it look like a very mossy, vine-ridden cropping of rock. But, if one would look hard enough, you could see tiny glints upon the "cropping", clearly metallic.

This was Hell's Gate. And over it flew a human transport: a Valkyrie TAV.

* * *

**Hallelujah Mountains**

Jason Turner and his three comrades stepped off the landed Valkyrie, which rested atop a massive, floating cropping of rock in the Hallelujah Mountains. It was a beautiful sight, yes, of course, thought the young xenobiologist, but it had its dangerous, the most prominent for travelers being the Pandorans here, for they believe this land here to be sacred. But surely this was for research. Human research.

"It's beautiful!" cried Lea Flore, a Hispanic brown-haired, hazel-eyed (and the only) female and second xenobotanist on this voyage. She pointed at the huge, floating cropping adjacent to the one they were on. Xenobotanist Judas Smythe, the Italian gumshoe and Lea's "partner in crime", shook his head.

"Always the pointer, eh, Lea?" he said, smirking. Lea stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Shut the hell up, Iscariot," said the burly Colonel Samson Dunne harshly as if Judas cursed to a child, using Judas' nickname based off the mutinous Bible figure Judas Iscariot. Judas was actually used to it. "Lea, point all you want."

Dunne left back to the ship, then proceeded to converse to the pilot. A few minutes later, he was back with the group, carrying four M60 machine guns in one hand, and a pallid suitcase in the other.

"Here," he said, throwing the items to the floor. "Take one gun, the rounds are in the case. Jason, test tubes and needles are in there as well in a small container. Everyone knows how to work an M60? Good." He didn't stop talking; he had just continued on without a "yes" or "no." "Shoot if attacked. The transport will be back near Hell's Gate in one hour. Any questions? Good."

Dunne smirked.

"All right, ladies," and to Lea, "and man. Let's get a move on."

They all put rounds in their guns, made sure everything was intact, then proceeded on. Lea once again pointed at a small flock of colorful mountain banshees, flying like massive pigeons at a New York park.

* * *

_It hurts... hurts soooo bad... I just want to die here... Make it stop, O Eywa... Please, I'm begging you...__It's all my fault... it's my fault my friends are dead... I lead them there... the palulukan was waiting... all mine... _

_All my fault..._


	2. Injuries and Bloodlust

_**Note: Remember, this is post-Avatar. If you haven't seen the film, I suggest you do so before reading this, for occasionally, a reference to the film will most likely be there. Read at your own risk!**_

**PART I: VICIOUS PURITY**

Chapter II: Injuries and Bloodlust

Ay'cura's eyes shot open. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to even move her eyes. She blinked with a flicker of pain, then looked around, sucking in where she was at.

She was at her clan's – the Lukani's - Hometree, lying on a wooden bed in the medical area. Healers were around her, checking on her. Ay'cura noticed that her waist was wrapped in gauze-like plants as a cast.

"She's awake," said one healer, who Ay'cura familiarized as En'eka. He approached her, along with two other healers. "Are you alright, Ay'cura? It's a miracles you survived."

Ay'cura, ignoring him, winced as she tried to get up. En'eka lightly shoved her back down. "Don't move much," he said soothingly. "You'll damage yourself even more."

"Did anybody else survive?" she asked weakly, fearfully, although she already knew what the answer would be. En'eka shook his head solemnly.

"No, Ay'cura. The hunting leader almost survived, we found him alive, but he died from the wounds."

Ay'cura's eyes filled with tears again. She lay back, cupping her face with her four-fingered hands. It was impossible not to cry; it was her fault, she thought solemnly.

"All my f-fault..." she muttered with a heaved sob. "All m-mine..."

"No, no no!" said En'eka grabbing her shoulder softly. "No, it was not your fault! The creature was just doing what all predators do, Ay'cura! It hunted to survive! It is the way Eywa wanted it to be! Sometimes death is unavoidable, even if it seems unreasonable or sudden."

"It is!" she said harshly. "It is my fault! St-stop trying to deny me!"

"Ay'cura, enough!" That wasn't En'eka's voice. That voice was much rougher. She looked up, and saw Nuncka, her stern father, approach her, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and remorse.

"Enough," he repeated with a softer tone, now at Ay'cura's side. "Stop faulting yourself. Your mother wouldn't want - "

"Don't start with mother!" cried Ay'cura with an angry expression, now attempting to stand again. This time she managed, the only obstacle the healers and her father trying to push her back onto the bed. "Don't touch me, any of you! You're hurting me worse! I can manage alone, thank you!"

Anger subdued her as she removed herself from the grip of the healers and her father. She fled from the room, now with a thought in mind, a thought that most Na'vi would never even think of:

Ay'cura wanted revenge against the palulukan, the sole one who murdered her friends.

The sole one who murdered her love...

* * *

Jason was astounded as they reached the edge of a huge Pandoran jungle, just about a half mile from the Hallelujah Mountains. He was smiling intently. Lea appeared at his side.

"It's beautiful!" she whispered, eying the numerous flora.

"That's your catchphrase?" said Judas chuckling. Dunne smiled as well. Judas proceeded on, now just a fraction of a centimeter away from the jungle. He was now stroking the fern of a warbonnet as if it were some kind of Terran pet. He scoffed with astonishment. "This is magnificent. Wonderful. Gentlemen and lady, we are finally able to research Pandora without the crude limitations that RDA set up. This place is ours for the taking!"

"Don't get scientifically cocky, Judas," said Dunne. "'Member, there's more than one smart species here."

"I know, but as in research," said Judas, standing up. He eyed a very colorful looking plant that almost looked like a crest with a long, proboscis-like antennae poking out. He touched it; then it _moved_! Judas jumped backwards as he realized that what he touched wasn't what he studied. A hexapede leapt out of the forest, running away with a slight hop to its steps like a deer.

Judas said, "What the hell was that?"

Jason looked at it serenly. "A hexapede. The deer of Pandora. It's a priem target for Pandoran predators, however, though its speed is the only thing keeping its species' alive. They travel in herds."

Dunne stepped in for a question. "Then why was it alone?"

Jason shrugged. "Probably strayed from the herd."

"Or maybe a predator," said Lea. She pointed at the forest.

Coming from the forest, large and feline, was a thanator, apex predator of Pandora. It swiftly moved past the group, in which they leapt out of the creature's way as it chased the hexapede. The group hid in the jungle growth, near the edge behind a clump of warbonnets. They peered at the great hunter was it grabbed the hexapede violently and began to shake it apart like a dog. Whitish blood splattered everywhere as the thanator began to swallow its meal.

"Oh, my God," moaned Lea. "Shit..."

"A thanator," muttered Jason. "Apex predator. Very dangerous."

"How come it didn't see us?" asked Judas.

"It wasn't after us, asshole!" said Dunne. "It was after the mikipede."

"Hexapede," Jason corrected him. Then his heart jumped, his eyes staring at the thanator, _which was staring right back_!

The thanator, its maw dripping with the blood of the hexapede, was looking right at them, bloodlust enveloping its four eyes, its lips curling like backwards like blooming, bloodsoaked flowers.


End file.
